A month before tight national elections, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was besieged today by two new embarrassments: Prosecutors asked that he be put on trial for corruption, and his health minister resigned over accusations that he spied on political opponents. Neither development seemed the silver bullet that would kill off Mr. Berlusconi's chances for a second five-year term, as the opposition might fervently wish. Over a decade in which Mr. Berlusconi has been both in politics and the courtroom, Italians have long overlooked legal proceedings against him.
Still, this race, at a time of no economic growth and growing frustration among voters here, might be different. Polls indicate that Mr. Berlusconi, Italy's richest man, is running behind his center-left challenger, Romano Prodi.
| Prodi is not center-left. There's no center in the man. |
There are other problems as well, including an earlier resignation of a minister and continuing disarray among his center-right allies. "It's another two hits on a ship that is not very seaworthy to begin with," said James Walston, a professor at the American University in Rome.
But like anyone who follows Italian politics, Mr. Walston was quick to add that, whatever his weaknesses, Mr. Berlusconi has been fighting hard for re-election and remains very much in the race. "We certainly can't count him out," he said.
Italians go to the polls on April 9 and 10.
Following reports that their investigation was complete, prosecutors in Milan said today that they would ask that Mr. Berlusconi and a British lawyer, David Mills, be put on trial for judicial corruption. The prosecutors released no details, but the case has been widely reported in the Italian news media, and centers on whether Mr. Berlusconi ordered $600,000 to be paid in 1997 in exchange for Mr. Mills' providing false testimony in two other cases against Mr. Berlusconi.
Both Mr. Berlusconi and Mr. Mills have denied the charges, but the case has reverberated in Britain. Mr. Mills and his wife, Tessa Jowell, the British culture minister, separated last weekend after a parliamentary commission cleared Ms. Jowell of any impropriety after accusations that the money was used to pay off the mortgage on the couple's house.
Mr. Berlusconi's allies today dismissed the charges. They said that the timing, during the election, proved the prime minister's long contention that left-leaning prosecutors have a vendetta against him. His spokesman, Paolo Bonaiuti, released a statement calling the charges "false theories shameful and impossible."
Prosecutors have been quoted in Italian news reports as saying they needed to act quickly because the statute of limitations for the crimes was shortened under legislation passed by Mr. Berlusconi's government. A judge must hold hearings on whether the case will go to trial, a process unlikely to be completed during the last month of campaigning. Such trials drag on for years and as has been the case in other corruption cases against Mr. Berlusconi are often voided because the statute of limitations run out.
Later today, the nation's health minister, Francesco Storace, resigned because of a widening scandal over whether he spied on political opponents during a hard-fought regional election last year. Earlier this week, 16 people, including police officers and private investigators, were arrested in the case. There were suspicions that Mr. Storace ordered video surveillance and wiretapping against opponents as he sought re-election as the president of the Lazio region, which includes Rome. He lost the race, and Mr. Berlusconi later appointed him health minister.
In announcing his resignation, Mr. Storace, a member of the National Alliance party, which is aligned with Mr. Berlusconi, released a statement saying that "the mere suspicion" of guilt "hurts me and makes me indignant."
Last month, Mr. Berlusconi's reforms minister, Roberto Calderoli, was forced to resign after he appeared on a television program wearing a T-shirt printed with the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that have caused riots around the Muslim world. He stepped down after more than a dozen people were killed in a violent anti-Italian demonstration in Libya. |
Vote projections in Italy indicate the Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi may defy early predictions and cling to power in both houses of Parliament. Early TV exit polls suggested the centre-left opposition would win the Upper House or Senate. Left wing supporters were jubilant and Opposition Leader Romano Prodi was said to be preparing for a victory speech. But then early counting suggested Mr Berlusconi's right-wing coalition would hold on to the Lower House. TV stations are now predicting Italy's longest serving post-war government could actually win, defying opinion polls during the campaign. 
Romano Prodi claimed victory in the Italian election, even though it won't be clear until later today whether he'll get a mandate to form a government. ``We won,'' Prodi said at 2:53 a.m. ``Now we must work together to unify this country.'' Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's spokesman, Paolo Bonaiuti, contested Prodi's victory claim and demanded a recount of the votes for the Chamber of Deputies. Final results showed Prodi's alliance taking control of the Chamber, winning by a margin of just 25,224 out of more than 38 million votes cast. Berlusconi's coalition held a one-seat lead in the Senate, with the results of six seats for Italians living abroad to be determined later today.